Working with vehicles on dual carriageways or motorways means a lot of necessary safety rules to avoid any accidents. It is important to be up-to-date with all legislation to ensure you are working within the legal requirements.
The REMA (Retroreflective Equipment Manufacturers Association) rules for conspicuity markings can be quite daunting. To help, here is a quick guide to REMA’s recommended markings for works vehicles.
The guidelines are published in Chapter 8 of the official Traffic Signs Manual in addition to being incorporated into Highways Agency contracts for work. This means that any company’s failure to follow them can result in potential legal action if a serious accident were to be caused due to such misconduct.
Chevron Requirements
Chapter 8 Chevrons on the back of work vans and cars need to be in red and yellow colours, in alternate stripes, and facing upward. The minimum width of each chevron is 150mm, with larger vehicles requiring more appropriately sized chevrons. They must be angled between 45 and 60 degrees upward.
Red Chapter 8 Chevrons should be made of a retro-reflective material in order to be as visible as possible at nighttime. The yellow chevrons, in contrast, should be non-reflective in order to give good visibility in daylight.
The placement of the chevrons should cover as much of the rear of the vehicle as possible without getting in the way of windows, registration plates or lights.
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Vehicles working on highways under 7.5 tonnes (cars and vans):
Rear chevrons to be non-reflective yellow and microprismatic red with red edging along rear-facing doors, guardrail strips and lockers. The side outline should be yellow microprismatic. Signage (“HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE / SURVEYING”, etc.) should be in non-reflective yellow or black.
Vehicles working on highways over 7.5 tonnes:
As above, plus chevron boards for rear marker and 50mm yellow side and red rear outlines.
Incident support units:
HA specifications must be met for INCIDENT SUPPORT / HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE legends. Fluorescent yellow-green and red rear chevrons must be in microprismatic material, with red microprismatic strips for door edging. HA ISU specific side markings should be angled at 45 degrees.
Other vehicles (trailers, buses, trucks):
Use reflective red outlines at the rear, reflective white markings at the front, and reflective yellow outlines along at least 80% of length of vehicle on the side.